OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENCY.
My name is A-Q, and I am a Nigerian Hip-hop artist. I have always wanted to make a difference with my music. Through the years, I waited patiently for my brand to get a point of prominence to enable use my talent reach a large audience and at this point in my career, I think it is time I use my God giving talent for what it is originally designed for. Which is, lending my voice in uplifting people and touching lives.
I would like to state that the contents of this letter and the song attached is not fact. Everything is strictly my opinion on how the present situation of our country Nigeria has affected me as an individual, and knowing that a lot of Nigerians are faced with similar struggles, with most even having it even worse, I have decided to use my reach as a Hip-hop artist, to amplify the voices of the people whose cries drown in the ocean of social media and are lost in the wind of the streets.
I wish to make this as short and plain as possible so everyone can understand. I grew up believing that depression was a white man’s sickness and suicidal thoughts was a coward’s way out and we in Africa had a way of dealing with hardship, but recently, as an average Nigerian, I have found myself slipping in and out of depression, thinking about how I can provide for myself and family in the nearest future. Although, thoughts of committing suicide have not occurred to me yet, I can’t imagine what the less privileged and below average Nigerians are feeling.
I know I am right when I say we are now at the breaking point and we can’t go on like this any longer. I always campaigned for Buhari from the 1st time he ran for election. I voted Buhari because when my late father was unlawfully relieved from his job at NNPC, costing my family a life time of hardship, he wrote to Buhari while he was in office concerning his treatment and the presidency replied his letter, saying they would launch an investigation into my father’s claims, but before this could be done the Buhari administration was toppled; for this I have always had the outmost respect for Buhari thus, when he returned as candidate for the presidential elections, I felt he was the man Nigeria needed.
I am however now stating this clearly as a broken hearted Nigerian that I regret voting for him and this administration. I am not going to be a hypocrite and act like this administration has done nothing or deny the efforts of this government. I commend the unbridled fight against Boko-Haram, the fight against unemployment and the struggle against corruption, which I have to say has now become majorly a Buhari fight, as the people are no longer interested in who is corrupt or not but how to survive.
How many people can be arrested? corruption has eaten deep into the hearts of the average Nigerian that to end corruption in this country, you would have to keep us all under investigation. It is amazing to find that even judges are corrupt now. Just think about how many criminals have escaped jail time and how many innocent people have gone to jail because a judge accepted a bribe. The thought is sickening.
Dear President, Nigeria is in a state of emergency and the policies your government has put up to help checkmate the steady economic decline are not working or is taking forever to have any effect. We have been patient but we are at a breaking point and cannot hold on much longer. The people are suffering and have lost confidence in your government. Anyone one who still has confidence in this government is either benefiting from this dilemma or has just refused to accept the truth that your Government is failing terribly. Sad to say, but citizens now have more confidence in the MMM Ponzi scheme than in your government. Confidence is gained and the MMM scheme be it illegal or not has given Nigerians more hope than your government has.
Nigerians are not stupid, we know the scheme will crash, but it just shows you how desperate we have become, with over 3 million Nigerians participating in the scheme, a slight relief is better for us right now and we are ready to cross that bridge when it imminently crashes, as seen that they are already encountering problems, even at that more than 7 other Schemes have popped up, taking advantage of desperate
Nigerians who have been left with almost no choice I am not presently participating in any of the schemes but I am tempted to and I know a lot of Nigerians who are not yet participating feel the same too and if nothing is done to relieve us of the present situation, a lot of us would fall victim to these schemes, Especially if MMM rise above their present issues and start paying again.
I would end by saying this, what happened to a government of the people, a government by the people and a government for the people? Your government has neglected the people, your government has not shown any promise for the future of Nigeria, at this rate even if your government succeeds in totally eliminating corruption (which is impossible), without alleviating this immense poverty Nigeria is facing, your government would only be seen as a government that brought hardship on the people. It’s not even two years yet and I can’t wait to vote you out. I don’t want you to fail because the success of your government is the success of every Nigerian so I still believe and I still stand with this government, with hopeless faith that you know what you are doing.
I know it’s not easy to rule a country with over a 180million people, where its past leaders ruled like Nigeria was a landed property passed unto them by their fathers, but enough of the blames and excuses. If your government keeps blaming past leaders for our woes, who are we the citizens going to blame? They had their time to rule, things were bad, but not this bad, so only you and your government can be held accountable for what is going on right now.
We are now at the end of the year and we pray Come 2017, you give us a better Nigeria. We want a stronger economy, we want better living conditions, we want you to regain our hope and confidence and we want you to put the people first and make this country great again. We have no choice but to hope and pray. Please do not fail us.
P.S. Let’s be safe during this Holiday season, I wish everyone a merry Christmas and a happy new year in advance.
Best Regards.
Listen and Enjoy MMM by A-Q
